POL200 Course guide 2017 Final.pdf

                                                   

 

 

Politics and International Relations

 

POLITICS 200:

The Politics of Extremism : From Fascism to Terrorism

 

Semester Two 2017

Lecture: Thursday 10am – 12pm

Discussion Hours: Fridays 9 – 10 and 11 - 12

 

 

Dr Chris Wilson

Course Coordinator

Office:  507

Human Sciences Building

Level 5

Ext 87768

chris.wilson@auckland.ac.nz

 

DESCRIPTION

 

This course offers a theoretical and empirical introduction to the causes and nature of violent political extremism. It examines the main forms of extremism over the past hundred years, from Anarchism, Fascism and Communism through to Genocide and Terrorism. A leading question in the course is whether common causes can be identified for these varied forms. We are particularly interested in the use of violence: what explains why so many groups use violence to reach their political or ideological goals?; do extreme ideologies necessarily lead to violence?; would we all be willing to engage in violent extremist behaviour given the right circumstances?

 

ASSESSMENT

 

Overview

In class test 1                                                                                                              10%

In class test 2                                                                                                              10%

Essay Plan (500 words)                                                                                              10%

Essay (1,500 words)                                                                                                   30%

Exam (2 hours)                                                                                                            40%

 

LECTURE SCHEDULE

 

Week 1: 27 July

Introduction

The lecture in this introductory week provides an overview of extremism. It examines the ideologies, goals and violence of a broad range of groups which can be considered extremist. I will introduce several concepts which will be important throughout the course, including: terrorism; propaganda by deed; radicalisation; genocide; fundamentalism; and hate crimes.

I will pose several questions which will re-emerge over the course. What are the similarities between mass state-based extremist movements such as Nazism and smaller groups such as contemporary terrorists? What explains the decision to move from extreme ideas to violent action? Might we all hold the potential to become extremists given the right circumstances?

I will also discuss the structure and goals of the course. I will provide advice on what is expected of you in your assignments and how to do well.

Readings:

Minus Midlarsky, Origins of Political Extremism: mass violence in the Twentieth Century and Beyond, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011, Introduction.

John Horgan, “Psychology of Terrorism: Introduction to the Special Issue”, American Psychologist, vol 72, no 3, 2017, pp199 – 202.

Online Readings:

Toward a Common Lexicon of Violent Extremism: https://www.lawfareblog.com/toward-common-lexicon-violent-extremism

Pathways to extremism: what neo-Nazis and jihadis have in common:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/may/27/extremism-terrorism-far-right-neo-nazi-devon-arthurs

 

Week 2: 3 August

Fascism and the Holocaust

The lecture in Week 2 examines Fascism, one of the most destructive forms of political extremism. We discuss definitions of Fascism, the ideological and social origins of Fascist movements, their goals and how and why Fascist regimes took power in many countries in the early to mid-20^th Century. The second half of the lecture turns to the most extreme manifestation of Fascism, the Holocaust. A key question to ponder in this lecture is: are there key characteristics of Fascism which still resonate in global politics in 2016?

Readings:

Stanley Payne, A History of Fascism, 1914-1945, Introduction.

Michael Mann, Fascists, Chapter 1: A Sociology of Fascist Movements.

Daniel Jonah Goldhagen, Hitler’s Willing Executioners: Ordinary Germans and the Holocaust, New York: Knopf, 1996, Chapter 15.

Christopher R. Browning, Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland, New York: Harper Collins, 1992, Chapter 18.

Online Readings:

Umberto Eco’s 14 features of fascism: http://www.openculture.com/2016/11/umberto-eco-makes-a-list-of-the-14-common-features-of-fascism.html

 

Week 3: 10 August

Anarchism, Communism and Leftist Extremism

This week examines extremism of varying degrees from 'the Left'. The lecture examines Anarchist violence in the late 19th and early 20^th Centuries. Some commentators (see below) claim that Anarchist terrorists share a number of similarities with contemporary Islamist ‘lone wolves’. We also look at the violence during Mao's Cultural Revolution and Great Leap Forward. The final part of the lecture discusses revolutionary leftist extremism of the 1970s and 80s.

Readings:

Richard Bach Jensen, “Daggers, Rifles and Dynamite: Anarchist Terrorism in Nineteenth Century Europe”, Terrorism and Political Violence, vol 36, no 3 (Spring 2004), pp116-153.

Elizabeth J. Perry, “Studying Chinese Politics: Farewell to Revolution?” in China Journal, Vol. 57, (January 2007), pp. 1-22.

Online Readings:

Blood, rage and history: the world’s first terrorists:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/politics/blood-rage-history-the-worlds-first-terrorists-1801195.html

 

Week 4: 17 August

Genocide and Mass Killing

This week we look at the attempted extermination of a racial, national or religious group. We consider what is and is not Genocide, with reference to the current United Nations Definition. We then turn to two of the worst post-WWII genocides, Rwanda and Indonesia (1965/66) and compare these with the Holocaust.

Readings:

Robert Gellately & Ben Kiernan (eds), The Specter of Genocide: mass murder in historical perspective, New York: Cambridge University Press, 2003, Chapter 1: The study of Mass Murder and Genocide.

Scott Straus, The Order of Genocide, Chapter 8: Rwanda’s Leviathan.

Robert Cribb, “Genocide in Indonesia, 1965-1966”, Journal of Genocide Research, 3, 2, 2002: pp 219-239.

Online Readings:

How do you define genocide?: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-11108059

 

Week 5: 24 August

Religion and Extremism

Religion sometimes seems central to extremism and terrorism. How and why is religion linked to extremism and violence? Can we consider religion a cause of violence or is it simply a façade for more ‘worldly’ motives? What is ‘religious fundamentalism’ and which phenomena explain it? The lecture discusses how the ‘ambivalent’ nature of religion allows both the facilitation of violent extremism and peaceful coexistence. The second half of the lecture examines several contemporary cases of religious extremism, intolerance and violent persecution. The concepts and socio-political dynamics discussed here are relevant to subsequent lectures on terrorism.

Readings:

Jeffrey Seul, “Ours is the Way of God: Religion, Identity, and Intergroup Conflict.” Journal of Peace Research 36, no. 5 (1999): 553-569.

Jonathan Fox, “Do Religious Institutions Support Violence or the Status Quo?” Studies in Conflict & Terrorism 22, no. 2 (1999): 119-139.

Marc Sageman, “The Origins of the Jihad”, in Marc Sageman, Understanding Terror Networks, Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Press, 2004.

Online Readings:

What ISIS Really Wants: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2015/03/what-isis-really-wants/384980/

 

Week 6: 31 August

Terrorism

Lecture Six focuses on the definition and causes of terrorism. While a consensus is developing on what constitutes terrorism, this perspective is far from uncontroversial. The first part of the lecture examines this definition and several critiques of it. The second part of the lecture begins to look at the causes of terrorism: what motivates individual perpetrators and what structural conditions make a country ‘terrorism-prone’?  

Readings:

Lisa Stampnitzky, Disciplining Terror: How Experts Invented “Terrorism”, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013, Introduction (Most chapters in this book are very useful on the definition / politicisation of terrorism).

Charles Tilly, “Terror as Strategy and Relational Process”, in International Journal of Comparative Sociology, vol 46, 1-2, 2005, pp 11-32.

Max Abrahms, “What Terrorists Really Want: Terrorist Motives and Counterterrorism Strategy”, International Security, vol 32, no 4 (Spring 2008), pp 78-105.

Max Taylor and John Horgan, “A Conceptual Framework for Addressing Psychological Process in the Development of the Terrorist”, Terrorism and Political Violence, 18, 2006, pp585-601.

 

Mid Semester Break (4 – 16 September)

 

Week 7: 21 Sept

Terrorism in Middle East

The lecture this week examines the causes and background to the rise of terrorism in the Middle East. The discussion considers the role of Islam, conflict, political repression and other phenomena in these movements. The second half of the lecture turns to al Qaeda and ISIS, examining the genesis, goals and competition between the two organisations.

Readings:

Daniel Byman, “Understanding the Islamic State – A Review Essay”, International Security, vol 40, no 4 (Spring 2016), pp 127-165.

Peter Neumann, Radicalized, chapter 2 The Religious Wave.

International Crisis Group, “Exploiting Disorder: al-Qaeda and the Islamic State”, 14 March 2016.

Marc Sageman, Understanding Terrorist Networks, University of Pennsylvania Press, 2004, “Chapter One: The Origins of the Jihad”.

 

Week 8: 28 Sept

Islamist Radicalisation in the West

This lecture examines the increasing incidence of Muslim radicalisation and terrorism in the West. It discusses the attacks in Paris, Sydney and Florida among other cases. The lecture also considers whether NZ is at a similar risk of extremism.

Readings:

Mohammed Hafez, and Creighton Mullins, “The Radicalization Puzzle: A Theoretical Synthesis of Empirical Approaches to Homegrown Extremism”, Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, 38, 2015: 958-975.

Peter R Neumann, ‘The Trouble with Radicalization’, International Affairs, 89, 4, 2013: 873-893.

Online Readings:

How do you stop a terrorist when the only evidence is a thought?: https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/22/world/europe/france-orlando-isis-terrorism-investigation.html?_r=0

Ramon Spaaij and Mark Hamm, Parramatta Shooting: how much do we really know about ‘lone-wolf’ terrorists?’, The Conversation, http://theconversation.com/parramatta-shooting-how-much-do-we-really-know-about-lone-wolf-terrorists-46746

Aaron Zellin, ‘New Zealand’s Jihadis’, short online piece at http://nzunmonitor.org/news-articles/guest-post-islamic-state-and-new-zealand-jihadis-aaron-zelin/

 

Week 9: 5 Oct

Islamist Terrorism outside the Middle East

The lecture this week considers the occurrence of Islamist terrorism outside the Middle East. It examines terrorist organisations such as Boko Haram in Nigeria, Jemaah Islamiyah in Indonesia (responsible for the Bali bombing) and Abu Sayyaf and pro-ISIS groups in the Philippines. We will examine the reasons for their rise, and whether they are connected to ISIS and Middle East-based groups.

Readings:

Andrew Walker, What is Boko Haram?, United States Institute of Peace, June 2012.

International Crisis Group, Indonesia Backgrounder: How the Jemaah Islamiyah Network Operates, Asia Report no 43. (A lot of pages but not too much text).

Online readings:

Pro-ISIS Groups in Mindanao (Philippines):

http://file.understandingconflict.org/file/2016/10/IPAC_Report_33.pdf

The Rise of Extremism in Bangladesh:

https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/bangladesh/2016-06-09/rise-extremism-bangladesh

 

Week 10: 12 Oct

Contemporary Far Right

This lecture examines contemporary right wing movements in the West. Are they rising and if so why? What explains current right wing populism? What similarities and differences does it hold with the fascism of the 1930s? How much impact can contemporary far right groups have; is it possible that a quasi-fascist regime could assume power? Can democratic institutions curtail the drive to violence if they do?

Readings:

Paul Hainsworth (ed), The Politics of the Extreme Right: From the Margins to the Mainstream, Introduction.

Cas Mudde, “Introduction to the populist radical right, in Cas Mudde (ed), “The Populist Radical Right: A Reader”, New York: Routledge, 2017. (And more of this book if you are interested in or will write an essay on this topic)

Manuela Caiani, Donatella della Porta & Claudius Wagemann, “The Extreme Right and Social Movement Studies: An Introduction”, in Manuela Caiani, Donatella della Porta & Claudius Wagemann (eds), Mobilizing on the Extreme Right: Germany, Italy and the United States, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012.

Online Readings:

His Kampf (on Richard Spencer):

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/06/his-kampf/524505/

Your handy field guide to the many factions of the far right, from the Proud Boys to Identity Europa:

https://www.wired.com/2017/05/field-guide-far-right/?mbid=social_twitter_onsiteshare

 

Week 11: 19 Oct

Ethnonationalist Extremism

The lecture this week examines terrorism carried out in the name of ethnic nationalism. Cases considered include the Irish Republican Army, the Palestinian Liberation Organization and the Tamil Tigers. While these groups sometimes used the same tactics and means as Islamist terrorist organisations we often view them differently. We sometimes portray them as ‘freedom fighters’ against foreign occupation or dominance and repression by another ethnic community. What motivates groups to use terrorism in these contexts and should we view them differently to other terrorist organisations?

Readings:

Walker Connor, “The Politics of Ethnonationalism”, The Journal of International Affairs, vol 27, no1, pp1-21. (As an introduction to ethnonationalism. See also Anthony Smith)

Bernadette Hayes & Ian McAllister, “Sowing Dragon’s Teeth: Public Support for Political Violence and Paramilitarism in Northern Ireland”, in Political Studies, vol 49, 2001, pp901-922.

Stephen Hopgood, “Tamil Tigers, 1987 – 2002”, in Diego Gambetta, Making Sense of Suicide Missions, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005.

 

Week 12: 26 Oct

Comparative Perspectives and Exam Discussion

The final lecture returns to some of the main questions of the course. In particular, we will consider common features of the different forms of extremism. Do similar processes of radicalisation occur in different terrorist organisations? When and why do violent extremist movements emerge? Are ‘lone wolf’ terrorists really today’s ‘anarchists’? The lecture also provides some guidance for exam preparation.

Readings:

Clark McCauley & Sophia Moskalenko, “Mechanisms of Political Radicalization: Pathways Toward Terrorism”, Terrorism and Political Violence, 20, 2008, pp415-433.